Cranberry-Pecan Pound Cake

Fall is here and with it comes fresh, seasonal, delicious cranberries in the produce department of the market. This lovely, buttery-rich pound cake is studded with toasted pecan pieces and chopped cranberries; perfect for the upcoming holidays or, for my family, anytime.

This recipe comes from the January 1990 edition of "Bon Appetit" magazine, with a few adaptions from me. Blessings...

Recipe:

1 cup chopped pecans (broken into small pieces, not finely chopped, 3-1/2 ounces)
1-1/2 cup cranberries
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, room temperature
5 large eggs
1/4 cup light sour cream
1/4 cup orange juice or brandy (calorie count is done with orange juice)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. grated orange peel
1-1/4 cups unbleached flour
1 cup cake flour
1/2 tsp. salt
Powdered sugar for dusting, if desired

1. Grease and flour a 2-1/2 quart tube cake pan or two 8-1/2 x 4-1/2-inch loaf pans.
2. Place pecans on cookie sheet and bake until lightly colored and fragrant in a 350 degree oven, about 8 to 10 minutes. Cool.
3. Coarsely chop cranberries.
4. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until light and fluffy, scraping sides of bowl once. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Beat in sour cream, then orange juice or brandy, vanilla and orange peel.
5. Sift unbleached flour, cake flour and salt together. With mixer on low speed, add dry ingredients to egg mixture and stop when all flour has been added. Mix by hand until just combined.
6. Fold in pecans and cranberries. Pour batter into prepared cake pan(s). Tap pan on counter to release any air bubbles.
7. Bake until tester inserted in center comes out clean, rotating pan(s) halfway through baking time, about 50 to 55 minutes for loaf pans and about 1 hour for tube pan.
8. Cool cake in pan 10 minutes. Turn out onto rack and cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Cake can be frozen up to 1 month. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired, before serving.

Yield: 20 servings
262 calories per serving
1 gm. fiber
Note: The flavor of the cake is best the day after baking.